This film likes its captions. You get a few screens of scene setting information before the film starts, telling the viewer about the base in question, located in darkest Afghanistan. They tells us that an analyst described it as a place where no one would survive an attack and then you get a caption telling you about every character and location within the camp. Frankly it got a bit distracting and there was no way I was going to remember the names of the twenty odd captioned characters anyway.
Fair enough the film is “Based on a True Story” so authenticity is important, but show, don’t tell! Anyway the film is basically a modern day ‘Zulu’ with an out numbered group of American soldiers facing off against the Taliban legions who besiege their poorly positioned camp.
The film opens with random insurgents taking post shots at the base. The American mortars take care of the threat and head honcho Orlando Bloom, dusting off his ‘Black Hawk Down’ accent, goes about his business of running the camp. He has the usual misfits to deal with but soon has other things on his mind like a severe lack of roads. With Orlando out of the picture a new officer takes charge and his guided tour gives us another chance to reacquaint ourselves with all details of the camp and staff - I was worried that there was going to be a test!
After half an hour, with visits to the local tribes going well, with some rifles surrendered, we know it’s all about to kick off big style. We meet with the five commanders of the base over the course of the film with their section predictably introduced with a caption.
The headline battle starts about an hour into the film and lasts pretty much to the end. It is stirring stuff with acts of heroism shown alongside cowardice and multiple explosions. Some of the characters we meet don’t make it and others step up in the face of adversity. I didn’t know of this battle before watching the film so it was genuinely exciting although I did have a good idea how things would pan out.
Overall this was an good film that borrowed from several better films. Most military clichés were trotted out with things like the worrier overcoming his doubts and the old favoutites of getting ammo to the front and the taking out of a troublesome sniper all present and correct. They even had that bit out of ‘Saving Private Ryan’ where Hanks’ pistol blows up a tank and then he realises that the explosion was in fact the result of his long awaited air strike.
The action cost the lives of eight US servicemen and untold numbers of Taliban cannon fodder. It therefore didn’t have the body count of many other war films and they did well to have you invest in the characters with a long preamble. The closing captions (natch) outlined that the base was an accident waiting to happen but that didn’t detract from the brave actions of the soldiers, with those killed in action being shown in photos as their true selves along side footage of the actors who portrayed them.
Like ‘Blackhawk Down’ the film depicted what would probably be described as a bad day for the military, but the spirit and sacrifice of the men made it a positive experience.
The Afghan action was actually filmed in Bulgaria but no expense was spared in terms of the spectacle and destruction depicted on screen. It may not be the best war film you’ll see but it was a worthy one, with great action and a lot of information given to keep you informed. Maybe even too much!
THE Tag Line : Zulu 2 : The Afghan Years 68%
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